The Milwaukee Teachers' Education Association was among the big winners in Tuesday's elections after a slate of five Milwaukee school board candidates endorsed by the union and the progressive Working Families Party swept their races.

Bob Peterson, a retired MPS and former teachers union president, beat Stefanie Dugan, 57% to 43%, to take the citywide, at-large seat being vacated by Terry Falk.

Retired MPS teacher Erika Siemsen ousted incumbent Wendell Harris, the only board member to seek re-election, from his 2nd District seat, 60% to 40%.

Sequanna Taylor and Megan O'Halloran took the 3rd and 8th Districts seats by wide margins, and Marva Herndon eked out a win in the 1st District.

"This is a day to celebrate Milwaukee's support for public education," said Peterson, who had gathered with supporters at the Art Bar in Riverwest.

"I look forward — the entire slate looks forward — to working with all the stakeholders, the entire school board, parents, students, the administration and elected officials locally and in Madison to defend and improve our public schools," he said.

Four of the five winners, all but Peterson, had been recruited by the Working Families Party, a national coalition of labor unions and progressive organizations that has become increasingly influential in seating left-leaning candidates across the country.

Taylor, who sits on the Milwaukee County Board, bested Catrina Crane, 75% to 25%, for the 3rd District seat vacated by Michael Bonds last year.

O'Halloran beat Kathryn Gabor, 73% to 27%, to take the seat held by outgoing board member Carol Voss.

And Herndon edged out Shyla Deacon by just 27 votes.

While all of the 10 candidates had cited a host of concerns confronting the district, from overly large class sizes to looming deficits, the races turned in large part on a single issue: the proliferation of independent charter schools that are authorized, but not directly overseen, by the MPS board.

Money poured in from both sides of that issue, with the teachers union helping to finance the winning slate, and school choice proponents, including the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce and Waukesha businessman Gus Ramirez, bolstering their opponents.

The union-backed slate made it clear that they oppose independent charter schools, and their election could make it more difficult for such schools to be chartered or renewed.

This school election cycle has been one of the more costly to date, with candidates raising overall more than $160,000 and spending more than $94,000.

By far, the most expensive contest has been the race between Peterson and Dugan for the citywide at-large seat.

Peterson had raised $63,000 since last year, according to his most recent campaign finance report filed last week. Dugan raised about $27,000 in the latest reporting period.

An unabashed school choice supporter, Harris had raised about $13,000, almost $11,000 of that from the MMAC's political action committee and board members, according to his most recent finance report. He has also been the beneficiary of flyers distributed by Leaders for a Better Community, a nonprofit founded by school choice proponent and radio personality Sherwin Hughes.

Contact Annysa Johnson at anjohnson@jrn.com or 414-224-2061. Follow her on Twitter at @JSEdbeat. And join the Journal Sentinel conversation about education issues at www.facebook.com/groups/WisconsinEducation.

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